CNS–A Los Angeles doctor agreed to plead guilty to federal charges for writing prescriptions for the narcotic OxyContin for people she never met in exchange for cash, federal prosecutors announced. Monique Williams, 42, admitted writing prescriptions for people she did not examine and who did not need the powerful painkiller, according to Thom Mrozek of the U.S. Attorney's Office. Williams, who had a medical office in Arcadia, agreed to plead guilty to a one-count information, admitting she wrote prescriptions for patients she never saw in exchange for cash, Mrozek said.

In the agreement, Williams admits selling prescriptions for $400 each and the painkillers for as much as $25 per pill, Mrozek said. In several instances outlined in court papers, an undercover DEA informant met Williams in her parking garage with photocopies of the driver's licenses of various strangers who sought OxyContin. Williams said she then wrote prescriptions for the people whose names appeared on the licenses and collected $400 for each one, Mrozek said.

Williams' California license to practice medicine and her DEA registration have been suspended, Mrozek said. As a result of the anticipated guilty plea, Williams faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in federal prison, Mrozek said.